This study examines the controversy regarding Hells Canyon on the Snake River, North America's deepest gorge. Throughout the 1950s, federal and private electric power proponents wrangled over who would harness the canyon's potential for generating hydroelectricity. After a decade of debate, the privately-owned Idaho Power Company won the right to build three small dams in the canyon versus one large public power structure. The thesis concludes that private development of Hells Canyon led to incomplete resource development. Further, support of private development led to extensive Republican electoral losses in the Pacific Northwest during the 1950s.

Construction of the Pacific Northwest-Pacific Southwest Intertie (also known as the Pacific Intertie) began in 1964, following the culmination of a series of interrelated negotiations which included: 1) the planning for the construction and operation of the Pacific Intertie; 2) the passage of federal legislation that put limits on the export of electricity from the regions where it was generated; and 3) the full ratification of the Columbia River Treaty between the United States and Canada. By 1970, with construction complete, the Pacific Intertie allowed for the movement of more than 4,000,000 kilowatts of power among the electrical systems of British Columbia and eleven Western states, including 243 rural electrical cooperatives, municipal systems, and other public agencies. It had essentially become the backbone of the largest electrical grid in the Western world. In addition to widening the marketing area available to power producers throughout the grid, the Pacific Intertie also integrated the operations of the nation's largest hydropower system (Bonneville Power Administration), the largest privately owned electrical system (Pacific Gas & Electric), and the largest municipal power system (L.A. Department of Water and Power) in the country.

Thesis (MScEng (Electrical and Electronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The world is increasingly being faced with the challenge of effectively exploiting available renewable energy resources, not only to meet an ever growing energy demand, but also to preserve the available amount of fossil fuels and to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions released into the atmosphere by fossil fuelled power stations. Hence, every available renewable energy resource, even small rivers has a contribution to make in the attempt to reduce the amount of fossil fuel generated electricity. The focus of this study is the design and installation of a low cost grid-connected 10 kW micro hydro power system (MHPS). The process to determine the potential of the available water resource is first to be presented. The environmental aspects of these systems, based on the study that is undertaken for the implementation of the landmark example, are discussed. The complete design of a micro hydro power system for a specific site is presented. This design is based on using commercially available components and equipment in an attempt to minimise the total cost of a micro hydro power system. The designed micro hydro power system is installed in-field and the predicted performance of the designed system is verified with measured results of the implemented system. Based on the results of the micro hydro power system landmark example, it is shown through a complete economic study, that this investment is very worthwhile. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die wêreld word daagliks meer en meer uitgedaag om beskikbare alternatiewe energiebronne effektief te benut, nie net om in die groeiende elektrisiteits aanvraag te voorsien nie, maar ook om die beskikbare fossiel brandstowwe te beskerm en ook om die hoeveelheid koolstofdioksied gasse wat deur fossiel brandstof kragstasies vrygestel word, te verminder. Dus het elke beskikbare alternatiewe energiebron, selfs klein riviertjies, ‘n bydrae om te lewer tot die poging om die hoeveelheid elektrisiteit wat deur fossiel brandstowwe opgewek word, te verminder. Die fokus van hierdie studie is op die ontwerp en implementering van ‘n lae koste netwerk gekoppelde 10 kW mikro hidro kragstelsel. Eerstens word die proses om die potensiaal van die beskikbare waterbron te bepaal, bespreek. Al die omgewings aspekte van hierdie mikro hidro kragstelsels word dan bespreek. Dit is ten volle gebaseer op die studies wat gedoen is vir die implementering van hierdie landmerk voorbeeld. Die volledige ontwerp van ‘n mikro hidro kragstelsel, vir ‘n spesifieke terrein, word bespreek. Hierdie ontwerp is hoofsaaklik gebasseer op die gebruik van kommersieel beskikbare komponente met die doel om die totale koste van die stelsel te minimeer. Die stelsel wat ontwerp is, is geïnstalleer op die terrein en die verwagte prestasie van die stelsel is toe geverifieer met gemete resultate van die geïnstalleerde stelsel. ‘n Volledige ekonomiese studie wat gebaseer is op die resultate van die geïnstalleerde stelsel, word dan bespreek en daar is gevind dat hierdie stelsel werklik finansieel die moeite werd is. / Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies

Orientador: Pedro Magalhães Sobrinho / Coorientador: Silvio Jorge Coelho Simões / Banca: João Andrade de Carvalho Junior / Banca: Ivonete Ávila / Banca: Humberto Gallo Junior / Banca: Ademir Fernando Morelli / Resumo: São inúmeros os serviços econômicos, sociais e ambientais atribuídos às florestas, sendo a fixação do carbono atmosférico o mais recente, pois contribui para a redução de gases do efeito estufa (GEE) e do aquecimento global, através do processo de fotossíntese na absorção do dióxido de carbono (CO2) pelas árvores. Buscando a redução dos GEE e a absorção do CO2, as centrais geradoras hidrelétricas (CGHs) e as pequenas centrais hidrelétricas (PCHs) são consideradas, por muitos estudiosos, como uma forma mais limpa de obtenção de energia, ainda que existam algumas discussões sobre os impactos ambientais gerados pelas mesmas. Assim, este estudo visa propor a mitigação da emissão do CO2, por meio da restauração ecológica, devido à instalação de uma central geradora hidrelétrica, com base na análise do potencial dos remanescentes florestais como sumidouros de carbono. Desta forma, utilizou-se mapas georreferenciados com dados físicos ambientais (hidrologia, classe de solo, uso da terra, drenagem, área de preservação permanente e maciços florestais nativos) que possibilitaram delimitar os remanescentes florestais existentes na bacia hidrográfica do Rio do Chapéu, localizada no município de São Luís do Paraitinga, SP, Brasil. Paralelamente, levantou-se os dados dendrométricos (altura da árvore e diâmetro à altura do peito) de 658 indivíduos arbóreos, distribuídos em 119 espécies de um fragmento florestal de 10.000 m2, que foram aplicados em equações alométricas, resultando uma estima... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: There are numerous economic, social and environmental services to forests, among which atmospheric carbon sequestration is the most recent, which contributes to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and global warming through photosynthesis, i.e. carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption by trees. With the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and absorbing CO2, small hydropower stations (SHS) and small hydropower plants (SHPs) are considered as a cleaner way to generate energy in literature, although there is some discussion regarding their environmental impacts. Thus, the present study aims to mitigate CO2 emissions from building a hydropower station through ecological restoration based on analyzing the potential of utilizing remnant forests as carbon sinks. Therefore, georeferenced maps have been used with environmental physical data (hydrology, soil type, land use, drainage, permanent preservation areas and native forest) that allowed defining the existing remnant forests along the Chapéu River watershed, which is located in São Luís do Paraitinga, SP, Brazil. In addition, dendrometric data (height and diameter at breast height) has been collected on 658 individual trees classified into 119 species in a forest area of 10,000 m 2 . Data used in an allometric equation resulted in an estimate of 62.25 C ha-1 t sequestrated by trees and CO2 emission of 9232.92 t ha-1 due to the flooded forest area (dam) if a SHS were constructed in the watershed. These data evidenced that trees contribute to carbon sequestration, and that there must be an environmental compensation through ecological restoration of 323.8 hectares of permanent environmental reserve areas located in the contributing watersheds. This research is going to assist in environmental licensing and decision-making processes regarding the implementation of hydropower stations due to obtaining parameters ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

O estudo aqui apresentado tem como objetivo analisar o Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento (PAC), o qual tem gerado grandes transformações no Brasil, em várias escalas, modificando estruturas territoriais, políticas, econômicas e sociais. Ao estudarmos esse programa, buscamos compreender a forma como o Estado brasileiro elabora suas estratégias econômicas e políticas a apropriação, o desenvolvimento e a incorporação de territórios no país. Vivenciamos no Brasil diversas políticas territoriais de infraestrutura e de reforma agrária durante o século XX, o que ocasionou uma larga expansão da abrangência do próprio Estado no território nacional, em geral, e no território amazônico, em específico. Tais ações caracterizam, no seu contexto geral, a atual configuração brasileira, quanto ao social, econômico, político, regional e territorial. Nosso objetivo geral consistiu em analisar os efeitos do PAC no território brasileiro a partir da construção de hidrelétricas na Amazônia, considerando tais intervenções como a materialização de um projeto político dos governos Lula e Dilma, e, com isso, entender o desenvolvimentismo como estratégia de avanço e concretização das ações governamentais. Como objetivos específicos: a) Analisar as ações dos governos de Luís Inácio Lula da Silva (2002-2010) e Dilma Roussef (2011-2014) sob a perspectiva do desenvolvimentismo, identificando suas principais características políticas e administrativas; b) Analisar a construção das hidrelétricas na Amazônia dispostas como projetos do PAC 1 e 2 enquanto estudo de caso, bem como entender sua relação com o crescimento do setor elétrico nacional e o desenvolvimento econômico brasileiro; c) Identificar os principais agentes econômicos e políticos envolvidos na construção de hidrelétricas do PAC na Amazônia brasileira; d) Analisar o PAC 1 e 2 nas escalas nacional, regional e local, pela abordagem da infraestrutura energética, com a análise dos relatórios periódicos publicados pelo próprio Governo contrapostos à realização de trabalhos de campo e informações de pesquisas e movimentos sociais; e) Elaborar uma síntese territorial do PAC a partir das informações e dos dados investigados para identificar diferenciações na execução de obras de acordo com os interesses do Governo aliado às grandes empresas e agentes econômicos. Nossa metodologia consistiu na construção do instrumental analítico mobilizado durante o estudo: o levantamento bibliográfico, as etapas metodológicas, as variáveis, os indicadores, a delimitação temporal e espacial e a forma como os resultados têm sido analisados. Podemos afirmar precisamente que a tese com a qual respondemos nosso problema de pesquisa é a de que o PAC é uma política territorial. Por sua vez, essa política não atende às necessidades desse território, quer sejam sociais, econômicas e ambientais. Sendo tal, dentro dos moldes desenvolvimentistas e liberais, de outro lado beneficia (diferentemente de atender) os grupos investidores e os setores capitalistas, sobretudo e prioritariamente. / This study aims to analyze the Growth Acceleration Program (in Portuguese, PAC), which has generated large-scale development transformations in Brasil, modifying territorial, political, economic and social structures. Through this study, it was understood how the Brazilian State elaborates its economic and political strategies, as well as territories appropriation, development and incorporation. In Brazil it was experienced several territorial policies concerning infrastructure and agrarian reform during the twentieth century, which led to a significant expansion in the territorial scope, in general, and in the Amazonian territory, specifically. In general context, these actions characterize Brazilian current configuration, as far as social, economic, political, regional and territorial. The main objective consisted in analyzing PAC effects in Brazilian territory based on construction of hydroelectric plants in the Amazon, considering those interventions as the materialization of Lula and Dilma governments then understand developmentalism as a strategy for the advancement and implementation of government actions. It was formulated as specific objectives: a) To analyze, from the perspective of developmentalism, Luís Inácio Lula da Silva (2002-2010) and Dilma Roussef (2011-2014) governments actions, identifying their main political and administrative characteristics; b) To assess the construction of hydroelectric plants in the Amazon as PAC 1 and 2 projects as case study and to understand its relation with the growth of the national electrical sector and the Brazilian economic development; c) To identify the main economic and political agents involved in the construction of PAC hydroelectric plants in the Brazilian Amazon; d) To evaluate PAC 1 and 2 at the local, state and national levels, under energy infrastructure bias, analyzing periodic reports published by the Government against the fieldwork and information of research and social movements; e) To elaborate a PAC territorial synthesis grounded on the information and data investigated to identify the differences in the execution of works in accordance with the interests of the Government allied to large companies and economic agents. The methodology employed in this work sought to build the analytical instruments mobilized during the study: bibliographic survey, the methodological steps, the variables, the indicators, temporal and spatial delimitations and how results have been analyzed. It can be precisely said that the thesis with which we responded the research problem is that PAC is a territorial policy. In turn, this policy does not meet the needs of this territory, which are social, economic and environmental. Therefore, within the developmental and liberal molds, overall it benefits (unlike attending) the investing groups and the capitalist sectors, especially and, as a matter of priority.

A onda de recessão econômica e de desaceleração do crescimento da década de 80, aliada à crise política e financeira vivenciada pelos Estados Nacionais na A.L., abriu terreno para que concepções neoliberais permeassem as decisões ligadas aos investimentos necessários em infra-estrutura. O Brasil, do Governo Collor ao FHC (1990 à 2002), seguiu esta orientação e, por meio dela, permitiu que vários segmentos dos serviços essenciais se tornassem passíveis de privatização e descentralização, dentre eles, o setor elétrico que foi reestruturado. Dado o contexto supra, este estudo visa analisar, sob um prisma sociológico e da geografia humana, o ressurgimento das pequenas centrais hidrelétricas no cenário nacional, intentando dar pistas da efetividade da política ambiental brasileira quando da implantação e recuperação destas usinas. Trata-se de examinar quais mecanismos político-institucionais permitem que o bem público, representado pelos recursos hídricos, possa ser apropriado para responder às necessidades de natureza privada, e como as necessidades sócio-ambientais imbricadas são contempladas nesse processo. É apresentado um estudo de caso para trazer à tona, por um micro recorte, a implantação de pequenos aproveitamentos hidrelétricos no qual a necessidade expansionista do setor reitera um padrão de excludência social e pouca efetividade decisória dos agentes sociais afetados. / The 80\'s wave of economic recession and decelerated development, allied to political and financial crises experienced by Latin American National States, opened field to a spread-out of classic conceptions through decisions connected to necessary infra-structure investments. Brazil followed this orientation, from Collor to FHC (1990 to 2002), and allowed many essential service segments to become liable of privatization and decentralization, among them, the electric sector, which was re-structured. Considering this context, this study aims to analyze under sociological and human geographical viewpoints, the resurgence of Small Hydroelectric Power Plants on the national scenery, intending to give cues of the Brazilian environmental policy effectiveness, by the time of these plants implantation and recovery. It concerns of examining which are the political-institutional mechanisms that allow the public welfare, represented by hydrous resources, to be convenient to private nature demands, and how the involved social-environmental demands are analyzed on this process. A case study is presented in order to bring-up, through a short brief, the implantation of small hydroelectric plants, where the growing necessity of the sector, reaffirms a pattern of social exclusion and few conclusive effectiveness of the affected social agents.

Orientador: Eduardo Romero de Oliveira / Banca: Gildo Magalhães dos Santos Filho / Banca: Paulo Roberto Cimó Queiroz / Banca: Paulo Cesar Gonçalves / Banca: Aureo Busetto / Resumo: Objetiva-se neste trabalho analisar o Complexo Hidrelétrico Urubupungá, localizado na região fronteiriça entre os estados de São Paulo e Mato Grosso do Sul, constituído por duas hidrelétricas, a Usina Hidrelétrica Engenheiro Souza Dias (Jupiá) e a Usina Hidrelétrica Ilha Solteira. Planejado e executado entre as décadas de 1950 e meados da década de 1970, este empreendimento consolida-se por meio da criação da Comissão Interestadual da Bacia do Paraná-Uruguai, a CIBPU, projeto de planejamento regional articulado por sete estados nacionais, tendo como influência as experiências norte-americanas do Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA. Com o início das obras, a condução do empreendimento centraliza cada vez mais novos organismos, como as Centrais Elétricas de Urubupungá, CELUSA S/A e a partir de 1966 as Centrais Elétricas de São Paulo, CESP, atualmente denominada Companhia Energética de São Paulo. Tais transformações projetam novos interesses de determinados grupos e espaços com as potencialidades advindas da produção energética, ampliando diretamente a forma de se pensar como a constituição deste complexo atrela-se a determinados projetos políticos, econômicos e sociais para uma vasta região do país. Para tal análise, permeado por um debate teórico-metodológico entre progresso, desenvolvimento, história e memória, ligados a um corpo documental amplo, de documentos de comissões e empresas, periódicos de circulação nacional e aparatos audiovisuais, apresentamos como uma série de narra... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This work aims to analyze the Urubupungá Hydroelectric Complex, located in the border region between the States of São Paulo e Mato Grosso do Sul, it is consisted by two hydroelectric plants, the Engenheiro Souza Dias Hydroelectric Plant (Jupiá), and the Ilha Solteira Hydroelectric Plant. Planned and executed between the decade of 1950 and mid of 1970, this enterprise consolidated itself through the creation of an Interstate Committee of the Paraná-Uruguai basin, that was called CIBPU, and was a regional planning project articulated by seven national States, under the influence the North-American experiences of the Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA.With the beginning of the works, the enterprise focuses more and more on the new organisms, such as Urubupungá Electrics Centrals, CELUSA S/A, and from 1966, The São Paulo Electrics Centrals, CESP, currently named as Energetic Company of São Paulo. These transformations design new interests of certain groups and spaces to the arising potential from the energy production, directly widening the way of thinking about how the complex creation is connected to certain political, economic, and social projects to a wide area of the country. For this analysis, permeated by a theoreticalmethodological debate about progress, development, history and memory linked to an extensive documental source of commissions and companies documents, national periodicals, audio-visual apparatus, it was presented how a series of narratives were engendered in t... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Prepared for the U.S. Dept. of Energy under Contract no. EX-76-A-01-2295, Task order 37.

Thesis (doctoral)--Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 2005. / Thesis documentation sheet inserted. Appendix includes six papers and manuscripts co-authored with others. Also issued electronically via World Wide Web in PDF format; online version lacks appendix of papers.

The necessity to develop an automated process for the design of micro-hydro power systems was based on the increasing demand for hydropower as a renewable energy source and to develop cost effective power supplies to rural areas. The application of the formula for the design of these systems is then to simplify the selection of the turbine sizing and is made possible by the similarity laws that exist within turbine and pump families. in addition the sizing of the supply and exhaust piping is also a matter of scaling. No selection process of turbine type is included due to the limitations of cost effectiveness and the category of size into which the turbine was specified. Furthermore. a new approach to turbine design was separately undertaken to satisfy low head and low flow-rate conditions. However, it was only designed up to a cost analysis with no manufacturing having been undertaken. The axial flow turbine. which was most suited for micro-hydro was designed and built as a prototype with a standardized mounting frame. The initial conditions used to generare the velocity vectors and angles were specific to the installation site and used to computationally generate the rotor and stator blades. This required an analysis of the different profiles available as well as research into their design. Once the blade profile stacking had been determined, this was translated into a software program that developed the blades from site-specific initial conditions. However, the design of the blades was interdependent on the dimensioning of the rest of the turbine components and designing these in parallel proved to be an intricate task. With the design complete, the turbine was then installed and testing proceeded with the use of pressure gauges and the results of torque and rpm obtained from a dynamometer. Analysis of the results was undertaken and presented in graphical format with comments on both the design and results. / Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.) -University of Natal, Durban, 2000.